The February 9th Killer
The February 9th Killer, also simply referred to as the Feb. 9 Killer, was an unidentified murderer who raped and killed two women on the same day of separate years, February 9 (hence the name). Brief Case History The February 9th Killer first became active when 29-year-old Taylorsville, Utah woman Sonia Mejia, who was 5-6 months pregnant, was found murdered in her bedroom by her husband on February 9, 2006; the unborn baby was also dead. An autopsy revealed that she was fatally strangled and even sexually assaulted. According to an investigation, Mejia did not know her attacker, who possibly stalked her for an unknown amount of time before the attack. An eyewitness account stated that a Hispanic man was wearing shorts and a white T-shirt who spoke to Mejia. The discussion turned violent, and the man forced his way into her house. Some of Mejia's jewelry and her car were found to be missing, but the car was later found abandoned outside of a Murray, Utah hotel. The jewelry was never recovered, and despite assistance from federal agents, the case went cold. Exactly two years later, on February 9, 2008, 57-year-old Damiana Castillo was found dead in her West Valley City, Utah home by her son. Leads quickly dried up in the investigation and the case briefly went inactive. The two cases weren't connected until 2009 when a crime lab performed tests on DNA samples recovered from both crime scenes and found a positive match between them. As a result, an investigation was opened, headed by an eight-man task force. Police released a physical description of a suspect, a Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s (since the found DNA didn't receive a positive match in any of the databases) with short black hair and medium height and weight. On February 9, 2009, Utah cities came on high alert due to a possible resurfacing of the killer, but no murders similar to the killer's nature seemed to have occurred on that day. As of 2011, the February 9th Killer case was classified as a cold case. In November 2018, it was announced that a suspect was in custody and in the process of being extradited back to Utah to face murder charges. His name has not been made public yet. Modus Operandi Known details about the February 9th Killer state that the killer targets Hispanic women, whose deaths occurred on the same day, February 9. The killer would gain entry into the homes of his victims by getting them to open their front doors and talk with them in some way. Once he got into their homes, he would sexually assault his victims and then kill them by strangling them to death. In the case of Sonia Mejia, the killer took some of her jewelry and her car after killing her. Known Victims *February 9, 2006, Taylorsville, Utah: Sonia Mejia, 29 *February 9, 2008, West Valley City, Utah: Damiana Castillo, 57 On Criminal Minds *Season Eight **"Nanny Dearest" - While the case has yet to be directly mentioned or referenced on the show, it appears to have been an inspiration for the episode's unsub, Johnny Ray Covey - Both were killers and rapists who targeted women, raped them, and dumped their bodies on the same day annually (though the February 9th Killer stopped after only two). Also Vasquez being Hispanic and some of Covey's victims being Hispanic may be a nod to both the February 9th Killer's victims being Hispanic. Sources *Wikipedia's article on the February 9th Killer *CNN article on the February 9th Killer *[http://fox13now.com/2013/02/04/tonight-at-9-crime-lab-helps-identify-utah-serial-killer/ Fox News article on the February 9th Killer] *''ABC News'' **Article on the investigation into the February 9 murders **Article summarizing the February 9 murders *Listverse article that mentions the February 9th Killer case (No. 10) References Category:Real People Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real Life Rapists Category:Unsolved Cases Category:Real World Criminals Category:Unreferenced Criminals Category:Real Life Robbers